The project
What does healthy soil sound like?
With Sounding Soil, Biovision makes the hidden life in the soil audible and tangible. At the heart of the project is a special soil microphone that people across Switzerland can borrow for free – ideal for educational projects, schools, and events.
The recorded soil sounds are collected on an interactive sound map. There, soil recordings from different habitats can be compared – from urban gardens, meadows, fields, or forests, from Switzerland and beyond.
For educators, Sounding Soil offers hands-on, curriculum-aligned teaching materials and guides. Children, young people, and adults can use them to explore soil life, hear and identify soil organisms and understand the soil ecosystem as a key foundation of life.
All materials are free of charge, aligned with Curriculum 21, and linked to the 2030 Agenda.
Our goal: to raise awareness for healthy soils – as a foundation for sustainable agriculture, healthy nutrition, and functioning ecosystems. Because healthy soil is an essential resource for food, climate protection, and biodiversity.
Background Knowledge
Soil: The Foundation of Life
Soil is more than just dirt—it’s the living, breathing foundation of life on Earth. This vital top layer of the Earth’s crust can range from just a few centimeters to several meters deep. Incredibly, it takes 10,000 to 20,000 years to form just 1 meter of soil! Each year, only about 0.1 mm of new soil is created in our regions. This thin layer, rich in nutrients, is called humus, and it comes from the decomposition of plants—a process made possible by billions of hardworking soil organisms.
The Hidden Orchestra Beneath Our Feet
Through Sounding Soil, we can actually hear some of these creatures in action! From the tiny springtails and mites to centipedes, beetles, earthworms, and even grasshoppers and cicadas—all of these soil animals create fascinating sounds. Whether they’re burrowing through the soil, feeding, or even communicating, the soil is alive with activity.
Each creature has its own unique sound based on its size, body structure, and behavior. The more diverse the sounds you hear in a recording, the richer the variety of life hidden beneath the surface. By listening to this hidden orchestra, we can appreciate the complexity and importance of healthy soil – and understand why protecting it is so crucial for the future of our planet.
Would you like to know more about soil, it’s inhabitants or the research on the method? Then take a look here (link to the educational platform – Knowledge-Soil)
Team
The Sounding Soil team consists of dedicated professionals, all united by a passion for healthy soil and a commitment to promoting a sustainable food system.
For any inquiries, please feel free to contact us:
Office German speaking:
Biovision Foundation for Ecological Development
Heinrichstrasse 147
8005 Zürich
soundingsoil@biovision.ch
Franziska Fischer
Programme Manager, Sustainable Consumption and Sounding Soil
+41 44 512 58 27
Office French speaking:
Biovision Fondation pour un développement écologique
Maison Internationale de l’Environnement II
Chemin de Balexert 7
1219 Châtelaine (Genève)
Capucine Musard
Programme Manager Sustainable Consumption and Sounding Soil, Project Manager Swiss Food Policy
+41 22 510 15 71
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